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Wataynikaneyap Power electrification project to remote First Nations is cause to celebrate – Daily Miner and News

by pmnationtalk onFebruary 9, 201842 Views

February 08, 2018

The Wataynikaneyap Power electrification project to remote First Nations is cause to celebrate

The time line for major public works and civil engineering projects from concept, through planning and construction often moves at glacial pace over a period of decades. Such was the situation regarding the Wataynikaneyap Power Transmission Project, which after 30 years in development is finally moving forward with the first stage of construction underway from Red Lake to Pikangikum. When it’s completed, the five year $1.35 billion project will connect 17 isolated First Nation communities to the provincial power grid.

The initial Red Lake to Pikangikum connection is moving forward following the federal government’s $60 million commitment towards construction costs awarded to the project through the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

The occasion of the official government announcement of the onset of construction was deemed important enough to warrant an on-site visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accompanied by Kenora MP Bob Nault who travelled to Pikangikum to meet with chief, band council and community members to commemorate the event. For Nault the project has been a long time coming as he observed it has been in development ever since he first took office in the early 1990s.